DC Comics in April 2011 - Too many crossovers!

Looking at DC Comics' April 2011 solicitations, I'm seeing an awful lot of crossovers: the three Green Lantern books are interlocked in the awful-sounding "War of the Green Lanterns"; Superboy, the Superman/Batman annual and Action Comics are part of the "Reign of Doomsday" event; Red Robin, Gotham City Sirens and Batman together form an unnamed three-part crossover; and Flash is setting up this summer's big event "Flashpoint," which sounds like it's going to affect DC's entire line of books.

War of the Green Lanterns

Green Lantern #65

This one is easy enough to ignore for me, since I'm not following any of the Green Lantern titles. It's unclear to me whether this story line concludes in April or if it's going to continue in May. But I did notice that they're apparently planning to release the books out of reading order. The solicitation for Green Lantern: Emerald Warriors #9, which comes out April 20, says it deals with the consequences of Green Lantern Corps #59, which comes out the following week on April 27.

Great job, DC editors! I can't think of a worse way to promote your upcoming big blockbuster movie than with a confusing crossover event that you can't even be bothered to release in the proper reading order.

If I was a Green Lantern editor, I would want to keep these books accessible for new readers who might be excited about the upcoming movie and who'd want to check out the comic. But right now there is no easy jumping on point into the franchise for new readers.

Reign of Doomsday

Superman/Batman Annual #5

The "Reign of Doomsday" crossover has just started and already there are signs that it'll be a prime example of how damaging a editorially mandated events can be for ongoing series that get sucked into them. The Steel one-shot that came out earlier this month wasn't very good, but it's hard to blame writer Steve Lyons for it. Not only had he pitched a completely different story featuring a different villain (Metallo), but he had actually finished the script, which was already in the process of being drawn by penciller Sean Chen, when DC editorial decided to trash it all and repurpose the issue to launch the crossover event. Metallo was discarded as the villain, and Ed Benes replaced Sean Chen as the penciller.

The result was a 22-page fight scene, with virtually no context, ending with a very unsatisfying cliffhanger as Doomsday drags Steel's limp body away into space. That the one-shot was weak on story is a massive understatement. Lyons said in an interview with Newsarama: "As for why Doomsday is coming after Steel now... well, actually, even I don't know the full answer to that!" What can you expect when the writer admits that he doesn't even know his characters' motivations?

In February and March, the crossover continues in issues of Outsiders and Justice League of America, neither of which I currently follow. Considering how uninspired the first part of the story was, I wasn't planning on picking those up, but in April "Act 1" of the story continues in the Superman/Batman annual and then concludes in Superboy #6. Since I'm currently following (and enjoying!) Jeff Lemire's Superboy, now I have to decide whether all this additional material is worth buying in order to get the full story.

Surprisingly, the solicitation for Action Comics #900 doesn't mention "Reign of Doomsday," although a post on DC's blog yesterday claims that it continues the story line. Why they wouldn't include this crucial information in the solicitations is beyond me! What it does say is that "this story will lay the ground for an insanely epic story coming out this summer in the pages of Action." So presumably, this insanely epic story will be "Act 2" of "Reign of Doomsday"?

Part of the reason these crossovers are so frustrating is that readers are only given little tidbits of information at a time, all of which is constantly subject to change, so it's very difficult for us to make informed decisions about what books to order. I'm lucky enough to have access to a comic book store that orders multiple copies of everything DC and Marvel publish, so even if I don't put something on my pull list, it's pretty much guaranteed that I'll be able to pick up a copy once it hits the stands. But those who only have access to smaller comics stores don't have that luxury.

As for how this crossover will affect my buying habits, I've decided to just keep getting the books I usually get (Action and Superboy) and hope for the best. I don't really mind that this story is set to continue in the pages of Action Comics after the Lex Luthor arc concludes. If Paul Cornell stays onboard, I'll continue reading it. (But that's another thing DC has been very tight-lipped about. Who's going to be writing Action from May onward?) I'm a little bit more upset about Superboy being sucked into it, because as a newer book, I think it would have been good to let it establish itself at its own pace. But whatever. At worse, it'll be one shitty issue, then hopefully it gets back on track with #7.

Red Robin/Gotham City Sirens/Batman

Gotham City Sirens #22

I was worried when I first saw that Marcus To wasn't listed as the artist for Red Robin #22, but he has since confirmed (via Twitter) that his editors wanted to give him some breathing room and that he will be back on the book with #23. That's good news, as he's pretty much the only only reason I haven't dropped the book after a series of recent weak scripts from Fabian Nicieza.

It's great that they're giving Marcus To some time to rest in between story arc. He's been doing consistently fantastic work on the book for over a year now, without any delays, which is a remarkable achievement when you compare it to almost every other book that DC publishes. It sounds like a well-deserved break. But why couldn't they just do a stand-alone issue in between instead of tying it with two other Bat books? Wouldn't that have been a better way to attract new readers? Promote the issue as a good jumping-on point, a no-strings-attached, commitment-free issue with a done-in-one story introducing you to the character. Maybe a team-up with another popular character to attract more fans. Instead, picking up this issue forces you to pick up two other books. Sounds like a terrible way to get new readers.

I guess the point of this crossover is that people already following either one of these three series are going to feel compelled to buy the other two issues in order to get the full story. So DC's making three times as much money as they normally would. That's the theory, but is that actually what people do? Not me. I'm going to skip this book instead. I'd rather have a hole in my collection than be forced to buy extra books I don't want.

It's a pity, though, because the cover by Guillem March is beautiful.

Flashpoint

The Flash #12

This last one is a bit different from the other events discussed above, since it's not going to start until this summer. April brings us the end of the prologue and so far the story will have been entirely contained in the pages of a single book, The Flash. And since I  happen to be buying this book already, this will be a good way for me to evaluate whether or not I want to jump onboard for the mega event that will follow.

So far, I'm intrigued by the premise. It's really too early for me to have an opinion at this point, although I'm a little bit worried by the suggestion that "everything Barry Allen knows and cares about is lost" in April's issue #12. Since it looks like the event is going to be about alternate timelines, I'm assuming part of Barry Allen's motivations will be to go back and fix the timeline to save his wife. Which is something Geoff Johns has been hinting at since early in the series. I'm only worried because I'm bracing myself for another grueling "death of a loved one" scene, which seems to have become DC's trademark. But we'll see how that goes.

Too Much Awesome: DC/Vertigo in March

Justice League: Generation Lost

War of the Green Lanterns

All three Lantern titles are tied into this crossover event in March. I'm not following any of them and I hate stories about heroes turning on each other, so I'm thoroughly uninterested in this.

Brightest Day

Apparently there is an end in sight. I haven't been paying much attention to the main title, other than browsing through it occasionally at the store to see if anything important happened and reading the occasional review online.

The cover and solicitation text of Justice League: Generation Lost #21 suggests that another Blue Beetle might die, although I'm going to chalk that one under "false advertising" until we get evidence to the contrary.

Reign of Doomsday

The solicitation text for Justice League of America #55 makes absolutely no sense to me. The first two-thirds of it describes the continuation of the "Rise of Eclipso" storyline, and it sounds like a full issue's worth of material. And then, tacked on at the end, is a bit about Doomsday, continuing the event that's starting this week in the Steel one-shot. But there doesn't seem to be any connection between the two story lines at all. It really makes "Reign of Doomsday" sound like an editorially mandated, thrown-together event with no cohesion at all.

Xombi

Xombi

I don't know anything about these Milestone properties that DC has been tentatively incorporated into the DCU, but with Frazer Irving doing the art, I'm definitely paying attention to this new series. "Contemporary urban horror - with a super-hero twist!" sounds like it could go either way.

Bat-family

I'm getting Batwoman, Batman Inc, Detective Comics, Birds of Prey, Red Robin, and the last issue of Knight and Squire. And that still leaves 12 additional titles under the "Batman" header of DC's March solicits that I'm not paying any attention to. That seems completely insane to me! Not surprisingly, three of those titles are marked as final issues: Streets of Gotham, Azrael and Batman Confidential. I would have expected Gotham City Sirens to get hacked as well, but apparently it's going to survive a bit longer. Does anybody really buy Outsiders, or is it only allowed to go on because Dan DiDio is writing it?

Action Comics

Super-family

Oh, man. Action Comics is gearing up for April's landmark #900 issue, "featuring the return of you-know-who"! The shit's about to hit the fan in a big way and Brainiac is involved. (I knew it!)

Other than that, I'm picking up Superboy and the Jimmy Olsen one-shot, which, by the way, at 6 bucks is a bit of a rip-off, considering I already paid for half of the material in it as a back-up of Action. I love how DC's launching this big campaign about how they're "holding the line" at $2.99, but a direct consequence of that initiative is that the Jimmy Olsen back-up was cut and now those of us who bought the first few issues are gonna have to pay for it again if we want the end of the story. Saving me money with one hand, while dipping deeper into my wallet with the other. Crooks!

Legion of Super-Heroes

In addition to the two main titles (LOSH and Adventure Comics), this month I'm also picking up the Legion of Super-Villains one-shot. All of which is written by Paul Levitz. The epic epicness of this epic franchise is overwhelming.

Other stuff

Unless J.T. Krul finds another way to piss me off before we get there, I'll be picking up Teen Titans #93. (TT is approaching #100 - wonder what they've got planned for that.) Also, Weird Worlds #3, maybe, depending on what the first issue is like this week.

Collected editions

The Flash Omnibus vol. 1, announced for May, is very tempting, but, ouch, $75!

Vertigo

American Vampire is starting a new storyline with #13, and since I'm down to only two regular Vertigo titles I'm following, it's pretty tempting to jump on board at this point.

Ditto for Hellblazer #277.

Sweet Tooth #19 is going to be amazing, with short stories by Matt Kindt, Nate Powell and Emi Lenox. I'm really surprised that Lemire is letting other people play with his creation, since he seems to have such an auteurist vision for the series, but this just goes to show his willingness to experiment and go places nobody expected.

Northlanders should be good, as it always is.

Does DC see controversy as more profitable than diversity?

If you've read the DC solicitations for January, then you know there's a Steel one-shot coming up. For all intents and purposes, when it was first announced, this seemed like a somewhat unimportant book, written by DC newcomer Steve Lyons, featuring a character who isn't appearing in any other books these days, and not tying into any bigger event. But it seems now that most of the info in the original solicitation has changed.

Back in November, DC announced an upcoming event called The Reign of Doomsday, which kickstarts with the Steel one-shot and will continue in the pages of Outsiders, JLA, Superboy and beyond. The villain changed from Metallo to Doomsday, and the artist changed from Sean Chen to Ed Benes.

In an interview at Newsarama last week, Lyons explains that he'd originally pitched the story as a stand-alone issue, but that editorial later decided to change the villain and tie it into a larger event. Sean T. Collins at Robot 6 wrote an interesting piece about the interview and the status of the character in the DC Universe.

Steel is one of the most undervalued characters and designs in DC’s pantheon. Iron Man’s powers, Thor’s hammer, Superman’s cape, and an African-American folk hero’s name? That’s pure gold. And seriously, what a great design: The Alex Garner cover to the issue — itself part of DC’s genuinely awesome iconic-cover line-up for the month of January — is practically payoff enough. Plus, in a genre often (and accurately) decried for its lack of strong non-white heroes, John Henry Irons is an armor-clad, hammer-wielding, ‘S’-shield-wearing super-genius whose role in Metropolis’s scientific and business community is basically “the anti-Lex.” Tough to top that.

Okay. But Sean and others have also picked up on the rather ominous way in which Lyons avoids talking about the future of the character after the one-shot. From the interview at Newsarama:

Nrama: Will Steel's role in the story continue into the other issues involved in the story? Or is he pretty much relegated to this one issue?

Lyons: Um. that would be telling, I think.

DC has a long-standing tradition of starting big events by killing off a character, to show how serious they are. (Ugh!) The death of Ted Kord (Blue Beetle) launched Infinite Crisis, the death of Metron launched Final Crisis, and most recently the death of Ryan Choi (Atom) launched the new direction of Titans. So I wouldn't put it past them to pull something like this off again. But considering how much controversy there's been this past year about the whitewashing of the DC Universe and the death of minority characters, could they really be planning to kill yet another one of their increasingly rare non-white heroes?

I realize this is a lot of speculation based on what is essentially a writer refusing to tell us how his story ends. But on the other hand, considering the precedents, it's not entirely crazy to jump to that conclusion. I just find it difficult to believe that after all the criticism DC could still be so stubbornly unwilling to admit that there is in fact a staggering lack of diversity in their books to the point that they would continue to make it worse, instead of doing even the slightest effort to remedy the problem.

At this point, killing off another non-white hero could only be interpreted as a provocation. The cynic in me is even tempted to suggest that the line from the interview may have been deliberately planted to stir up exactly this kind of speculation and discussion about the title, to generate interest and (presumably) drive up sales. I'll confess that I wasn't all that interested in the one-shot when it was first solicited. Not because I dislike the character or don't support books featuring non-white heroes, but mostly because I'm not familiar with the writer's previous work and lately I haven't had much luck with one-shots from DC. But now my curiosity has definitely been piqued. I don't know if it'll be enough to get me to buy the book, but I'm definitely paying more attention than I was before.

We'll have to wait and see, of course. Maybe this time it really is a tempest in a teapot.

The Steel one-shot hits stores January 5.

Best and worse DC Comics covers of 2010

I have compiled my favourite and least favourite comic book covers of the year from DC. The rule I followed was that I couldn't feature the same artist of book more than once per category.  Vertigo and Wildstorm were not eligible.

TOP 10 BEST DC COVERS OF 2010

1. Phil Noto's Superboy #2

Phil Noto draws a very pretty Superboy. Add to that a nice restricted colour scheme, a stylish composition, and a little bit of bondage sexiness with Poison Ivy's vines, and you've got a clear winner. This is my favourite cover of the year.

2. Gary Frank's Atom Special

I love covers that depict the characters in action or in peril. This cover is full of movement and danger and it's visually striking.

3. Stanley Lau's Superman/Batman Annual #4

It was really hard to decide which of Stanley Lau's covers to pick for this list. His Batgirl covers are all stunningly beautiful and so is his double-cover for the Detective Comics and Batman annuals. But in the end I had to go with this one, because it features probably the best-looking Batman Beyond I've ever seen.

4. Amy Reeder Hadley's Supergirl #56

Amy Reeder did four or five Supergirl covers this year and they're all really nice, but this one was the most striking, making great use of the mirror imagery of the Bizarro world. Using the capes to emphasize the yin-yang motif was also a great idea.

5. Frazer Irving's Batman and Robin #13

It was a tough decision to leave out all of Frank Quitely's covers for Batman and Robin in favour of this variant by Frazer Irving, but ultimately this one wins hands down.

6. Cliff Chiang's Birds of Prey #3

The cover was so much better than this short fantasy scene was in the book. Cliff Chiang also did some really nice covers for Justice League: Generation Lost.

7. J.H. Williams III's Detective Comics #862

Wow. I don't really have to say anything else about this one.

8. Dustin Nguyen's Batman: Streets of Gotham #11

Picking only one Dustin Nguyen cover was torture. All of his covers for Streets of Gotham are amazing. He also did great cover for Detective Comics #866 and the first issue of his run on Batgirl.


9. Jesus Saiz's The Brave and the Bold #33

Although a lot of people had issues with the actual story in this issue, the cover is undeniably great in my opinion. It hinted at a lot of ass-kicking from these three great female characters, which unfortunately wasn't quite what we got.

10. José O. Ladrönn's The Spirit #1

And finally this one. Ladrönn's covers for The Spirit are all absolutely amazing. They're stylish, beautifully rendered and exciting. Unfortunately, the interior art by Moritat can't even compare. I got the first three issues of this new series before dropping it from my pull list and they were some of the worse comics I read all year. Which is proof that you should never judge a book by its cover.

BOTTOM 5 WORST DC COVERS OF 2010

1. Rodolfo Migliari's Green Lantern: Emerald Warrior #5

It was very easy to pick the worst cover of the year from DC. God, how much I hate this! Not only is it fucking disgusting and totally inappropriate to have a character puking blood and bleeding from his eyeballs on the cover of a DC book, but this is also terribly ugly art in my opinion. I hate absolutely everything about this.

2. Felipe Massafera's Superman: Last Family of Krypton #2

No. This is just wrong. First of all, Felipe Massafera is an obvious Alex Ross wannabe. I'm not even a fan of Alex Ross, much less some second-rate imitation. Second, flying babies are creepy. This cover is almost as repulsive as Guy Guardner puking blood, which is a remarkable feat in itself.

3. Billy Tucci's Red Hood: Lost Days #5

What the hell is this? I don't know whose arms these are, but they are surely not Jason Todd's. Billy Tucci is very hit and miss. Some of his other covers for this mini-series are actually quite nice, but this pumped-up-on-steroids version of the Red Hood is just gross.

4. Doug Mahnke's Green Lantern #57

The less said about this one, the better.

5. John Cassaday's Superman #706

And finally, a cover from what I consider the single biggest failure of the year from DC - the disastrously boring, delayed, critically despised, and ultimately abandoned "Grounded" storyline from superstar writer J. Michael Straczynski. On this ridiculous cover, I'm assuming that Superman is doing his best Dracula impression. It's an awful cover for an awful comic book. (At least it's not misleading, like some of those covers in my top-10 list.)

Too Much Awesome: Comics in January

Time to look at the January 2011 solicitations, as listed in Previews #266.

DARK HORSE

Hmm, there's not a single book from Dark Horse I'm interested in this month.

DC

The DC solicitations start with a bunch of random one-shots, none of which look all that interesting to me. Depending on whether or not Krul's Teen Titans gone south by then, I might check out the Wonder Girl one-shot that ties into it, otherwise I think I'm going to pass on all of these.

The new anthology mini-series Weird Worlds features "a kind-hearted monster called Garbageman." I think that speaks for itself, but you can read more about that wonderful creation in this interview with Aaron Lopresti, who will be writing and drawing that story.

Batman: Europa is a new mini-series based on a story by Brian Azzarello and Matteo Casali, with painted art by "many of the industry's top talents. This first issue is by Jim Lee, and if that cover is any indication, it's going to be really, really ugly. Not interested.

I'll probably be getting the new issues of Batman Inc, Batman and Robin, Knight and Squire, Red Robin, Birds of Prey, Action Comics, Superboy, The Flash, Adventure Comics, Legion of Super-Heroes and Teen Titans, all of which are on my regular pull list at the moment.

Superman/Batman #80 is the conclusion of a two-part story by Chris Roberson and Jesus Merino, taking place in the 853rd century, and I'm looking forward to that as well.

In the collected editions section, I noticed that the first collection of Paul Cornell's Action Comics run is going to be titled Superman: The Black Ring. Now why would they put "Superman" in the title when the character is not even featured in the story? I know, I know, the answer is probably just that his name sells better than Lex Luthor's, but that seems really disingenuous, even by DC's low standards. Is it possible that Superman does make an appearance at the end of the story Cornell has planned? I'm also confused by the fact that there's no "volume 1" attached to the title, since that collection only includes issues #890-895 and the story will not have concluded by then. Very weird.

Notice a bunch of Wildstorm titles at the end of the DC Comics section. Mostly these are mini-series that haven't yet concluded, but it's nice to see a seamless transition into DC's main imprint instead of a bunch of abrupt cancellations.

VERTIGO

Daytripper gets a trade paperback collection. I bought all the single issues, so I won't be getting this, but I highly recommend this beautiful story by Gabriel Ba and Fabio Moon.

I'm going to be picking up the new issues of Northlanders and Sweet Tooth. It seems like there are fewer and fewer Vertigo books of interest. I hope they're going to announce some new titles soon.

IDW

I'm not going to get sucked into this Infestation mega crossover event, featuring zombies across IDW's various licensed properties (Star Trek, G.I. Joe, Transformers, Ghostbusters), but I'll admit it's a pretty clever marketing stunt. Of course, it would maybe have a bit more impact if we hadn't seen major zombie crossover events at DC and Marvel recently. Coupled with the surge in popularity of Kirkman's Walking Dead due to the new TV series, I'd expect most people to be really sick of zombies by January. I'm pretty sure I will be.

I bought the first issue of Steve Niles and Kelley Jones' Edge of Doom mini-series this month and didn't think much of it, so I'm dropping this one.

There's a trade paperback of something called Off-Road, written and drawn by Sean Murphy. I'm assuming this was previously released as a mini-series, although the solicitation doesn't say. It's the first time I notice this title, but I'm probably going to look into it, since I really love Murphy's art.

IMAGE

I dropped Morning Glories after issue #3. I don't understand where all the positive reviews are coming from, as I found both the art and the writing to be mediocre.

And yet, here I am looking at Nick Spencer's new series, The Infinite Vacation, thinking it looks pretty cool. Art is by Christian Ward and it looks a lot more up my alley than Joe Eisma's work in Morning Glories. I'm intrigued, if not completely sold on this one.

And depending on how I like the first issues of Halcyon and Marineman (coming out in November and December, respectively), I may or may not continue reading them in January.

MARVEL

I will be getting the new issues of Avengers: Children's Crusade, Secret Avengers, and Thor. I think that's it. I dropped Avengers Academy because it hasn't been very good (and the last issue, to put it politely, sucked cock) and I'm not really tempted by anything else at the moment. Which is not a bad thing, considering my budget is already stretched thin as it is.

There's a Magneto one-shot written by Howard Chaykin and pencilled by "TBD." Awesome.

ICON

Casanova continues, with Fabio Moon taking over art duties from Gabriel Ba. They're both amazing artists, so that's cool.

I'll also be getting Mark Millar and Leinil Yu's Superior, unless something goes horribly wrong in issue #2 or #3.

BOOM!

By January, all three of Stan Lee's new series will have launched: Soldier Zero, Starborn and The Traveler. I read the first issue of Soldier Zero this week and I'm currently working on a review of it. I haven't decided yet whether I'm going to continue reading it or check out those other two books when they launch, but for now I'll just say these are worth keeping an eye on.

RED 5

I have Atomic Robo and the Deadly Art of Science #3 on my pull  list.

12 GAUGE

I'm picking up the first issue of Magus in December. Depending on whether or not that's any good, I may or may not pick up the second issue in January. The premise is interesting.

And that's all for January, folks.

Too Much Awesome: DC Previews (November 2010)

TOP 5 BOOKS FROM DC'S NOVEMBER SOLICITATIONS

1. Superboy #1

It's no secret that I'm a huge fan of Jeff Lemire, and his Atom Special was less than stellar, I still have faith in him. Superboy seems like a perfectly suited project for him. The preview in Action Comics last week was a lot weirder than I expected, and it's going to be interesting to see how Lemire works his way up to that point. I'd never seen any of artist Pier Gallo's work until the preview, but I like what I've seen. I'm not a huge fan of the way he draws faces, but I like his overall style and the level of detail.

2. Batman, Inc. #1

I am hugely skeptical about the direction in which Grant Morrison's epic Batman saga is headed. When people started speculating that the return of Bruce Wayne would mean multiple “Batmen,” I thought it was the stupidest idea I'd ever heard in my life. And now that's exactly what we're getting. Batman has become a franchise and this is the new flagship title that will see Bruce running international operations, while Dick holds the fort in Gotham. I'm looking forward to the first issue, because in spite of everything, Morrison still has the ability to surprise me in his execution of ideas that would not work in the hands of a lesser writer. The first few issues will determine whether I'm going to keep following it or not.

3. Batwoman #0

I've heard so much about Greg Rucka's Batwoman run (in Detective Comics) and have been meaning to pick up the hardcover collection, but haven't gotten around to it yet. Hopefully my budget will allow me to do that before November so that I can get on the bandwagon having read the material leading up to it. J.H. Williams III, who illustrated most of Rucka's scripts on the original run, is now sharing writing duties with W. Haden Blackman and art duties with Amy Reeder.

4. Knight & Squire #2

Paul Cornell's run on Action Comics has been amazing so far and it makes perfect sense that he should write the Knight & Squire mini-series. The team of British super-heroes were of course introduced by Grant Morrison in his Batman run. Cornell claims that exactly 100 new character will be introduced over the course of the six-issue series. You can spot dozens of them in an advance preview on DC's blog The Source. Jimmy Broxton handles the art.

5. Red Robin #17

My pick for the last item on my list was a toss-up between this and Action Comics, since those are my two favourite comics right now. I went with this one because I'm really curious to find out how the return of Bruce Wayne will affect Tim, if at all. The solicitation text for this issue hints that this will be dealt with, at least in part, as Tim sets out to release Linx from prison (after having put her there himself a couple of issues ago). The creative team is still Fabian Nicieza on scripts and the excellent Marcus To on art.

OTHER BOOKS I'M DEFINITELY PICKING UP IN NOVEMBER

• Action Comics #895
• Legion of Super-Heroes #8
• Birds of Prey #6
• The Flash #8

STUFF THAT HAS ME CURIOUS IN NOVEMBER

Teen Titans #89 features a new creative team, and I'm torn. Artist Nicola Scott is great, but writer J.T. Krul has a pretty bad track record. Damian is involved (and featured on the cover), so that makes me both more interested and more weary, because he's one of my favourite characters but some writers simply don't get him and do a terrible job writing him. Should I give the man who likes to write about dead cats and sexual impotence a chance?

Detective Comics #871 also gets a new team. Writer Scott Snyder's Vertigo series, American Vampires, is getting good reviews, but I'm really sick of vampires so I can't be bothered to check it out. Jock, the man with only one name, is taking over art duties. I'm not super-familiar with his work, but I've seen some of it online and it looks pretty good. This is a 4$ book, though, so that's a drawback. There's a back-up story about Commissioner Gorden, which I couldn't care less about.

Batman/Catwoman: Follow the Money is a 56-page one-shot written and drawn by Howard Chaykin. That's pretty much all you need to know. This one's definitely worth a look.

Batgirl #15 sees artist Dustin Nguyen joining the creative team. Bryan Q. Miller is still writing. I've only read one previous issue of Batgirl (because of a cross-over with Red Robin) and I can't say I was very impressed. But Nguyen is an amazing artist and that alone makes it worth considering. It'll probably depend on whether it's coming out on a slow week for me.

I noticed that there's a T-Rex on the cover of Secret Six #27. Why the hell am I not reading this series again? Oh, right. Because I want to start from the beginning. I should really get around to picking up those trades. I feel like I'm missing out on all the fun.

I don't really know anything about T.H.U.N.D.E.R Agents, but there's a new series starting in November and, oh, look, a shiny new cover by Frank Quitely! The interior art is by someone or something called "Cafu & Bit," and I have no idea what that means. Nick Spencer (Morning Glory) is writing. This one might be worth checking out as well. I will investigate further.

October solicitations (Previews #263) – part one

Today I bought my first issue of Previews, the August issue with solicitations for October releases. I've been flipping through it all evening. Here are a few comments.

DARK HORSE

I guess Jim Shooter is really popular or something. He's writing three series for Dark Horse now. I've read the previews of two of them from that Free Comic Book Day comic and they sucked. No reason to check out the third one.

Beasts of Burden/Hellboy. I've very excited about this. I just bought the hardcover Beasts of Burden collection by Evan Dorkin and Jill Thompson, and it is a thing of beauty. They join forces here with Hellboy creator Mike Mignola for a one-shot crossover. (October 27)

I'm mildly amused that there is a Dethklok mini-series coming out, although I'm not really a big enough fan to check this out. (October 6)

I don't really know anything about Fear Agent, but those giant alien creatures on the cover of issue #31 look an awful lot like Metroids. Apparently this is the final arc of the series, so I might have to check out some earlier issues. (October 27)

The Classic Comics Archives Volume 1: White Indian, by Frank Frazetta, looks like an amazing collection. However, I disagree that it is being offered "in an affordable hardcover format." 50 bucks for 200 pages is not exactly what I call a bargain. I'd love to read this, but I can't afford it. Maybe they'll get a copy at the library. (December 1)

DC COMICS

Teen Titans #88. It's so tempting to give this series another chance. I like a lot of the characters on the team (especially Conner and Bart) and this issue is described as a "perfect jumping-on point" with a "new direction" and a "new creative team." And part of that team is Nicola Scott, who is a fine artist. The weak link, though, is writer J.T. Krul. After the dead cat incident and the erectile dysfunction in Rise of Arsenal, I don't think I can take a chance on this guy. And especially not on a 4$ book. (October 27)

All the Brightest Day and Green Lantern stuff looks kind of interesting, especially when the solicitations keep hinting at some big mystery unfolding across all the different titles. I just can't afford to follow that many books, so I opted to skip pretty much all of them.

The Flash #7. Art by Scott Kolins!? WTF? Where's Francis Manapul? I hope he's back next month, because he's the main reason I'm reading this title. (Scott Kolins is okay, though.) (October 13)

Of all the Bruce Wayne – The Road Home one shots, I think I'm only going to pick up the ones written by Fabian Nicieza, because there's a good chance they'll tie into his run on Red Robin. That means three issues for me: Batman & Robin, Red Robin (both October 6) and Ra's Al Ghul (October 27). I'm still on the fence about the Oracle one-shot (also October 27), which written by Marc Andreyko. I'm surprised Gail Simone is not writing that one.

Batman: The Return. Written by Grant Morrison, with interior art by David Finch, and setting up the "new status quo," this is the issue that's going to determine whether or not I continue reading Batman books in November. It all depends on this. (October 27)

I'm willing to bet that the first issue of Knight and Squire, written by Paul Cornell, is going to be better and more fun than any of the Bat titles in October. (October 13)

I hate that DC insists on putting a "#1" on all their one-shots. It makes it really impossible to differentiate between actual one-shots and beginnings of new series. Is Batman: Hidden Treasures (note the plural) going to be a recurring Batman title unearthing various "lost" stories from over the years? How many lost stories are there anyway? I think it's hilarious that DC is hyping this as a "legendary" lost Bernie Wrightson story that's being published "at long last," when the reaction from every blogger I follow was, "Oh, I didn't know there was a lot story." Me, I don't even know who Bernie Wrightson is, so that shows how much I know. But everyone seems excited enough about this, so I'll probably at least give it a glance when it's out in the store. You get 56 pages for 5 bucks, and that includes a reprinted story from Swamp Thing #7. (October 6)

The cover for Red Hood: Lost Days #5, by Billy Tucci, is truly horrendous. Ugh! I'm waiting for the trade on this one anyway. (October 6)

All signs point to Superman #704 (October 13) being about child abuse. BARF! Action Comics is the only Superman comics you should be reading right now, and Superman's not even in it. Issue #894 feature Death, from Sandman, and a Jimmy Olsen back-up feature! (October 27)

Felipe Massafera is without a doubt the worst cover artist currently working for DC. Where did they find this guy? I guess Alex Ross wasn't available, so they decided to hire this second-rate plagiarist instead. (It's not like I'm even a fan of Alex Ross's art to begin with.) Massafera shows up on the covers of the Superman: Last Family of Krypton mini-series (October 6) and of the JLA/99 crossover (October 27), and both covers are enough of a turn-off for me not to bother even looking at what's inside. Yes, people do judge books by their covers.

Speaking of which, Supergirl and Damian are on the cover of Superman/Batman #77. Sold! (October 20)

Legion of Super-Heroes #6. This is the last issue of the first story arc, so it's also the issue that will determine whether or not I drop this title. I'm enjoying it so far, but I wouldn't mind being wowed by it a bit more. (October 20)

DCU Halloween Special 2010. According to the write-up, this is "the annual event I've been dying to read." And yet the art is still by "TBD." Get your shit together, DC! This is going to be just as rushed, thrown together and ultimately disappointing as all the 75th anniversary issues were in June. Only this time, I've learned my lesson and will be saving my money. This is a $5 book. (October 20)

Ragman: Suit of Souls. I was somewhat curious about this one-shot, but I'm not familiar with the creative team and I see that it's a regular-sized book selling for $4. Pass. (October 20)

The "DC Comics Presents" line confuses the hell out of me. Why do they all have "#1" attached to the titles if they are basically collections of previously released stories? When you see DC Comics Presents: Superman #1 (October 27), doesn't that make you think it's a reprint of Superman #1? It's not. It's actually a reprint of Superman #179-185 and Superman: Man of Steel #121. Okay... So that's, what, eight issues? And yet the book is only 96 pages. I know I'm not very good at math, but what the hell is going on here?

The other ones are all equally confusing. DC Comics presents: Brightest Day #1 (October 13) is not a reprint of Brightest Day #1. It's a collection of stories from Hawkman, Solo (?), DCU Holiday (??) and Strange Adventures. And the one that collects the Batman and Catwoman: Trail of the Gun mini-series is inexplicably named after the artist – DC Presents: Ethan Van Sciver #1 (October 13) – just to make sure that there is no logical patern or consistency to any of these titles. Whoever is the editor on these books needs to be fired.

Still, there are a few gems to be found here if you're willing to sort through the mess, such as the collection of Batman issues written by Ed Brubaker – DC Comics Presents: Batman #1 (October 20) – and the JLA: World Without Grown-Ups mini-series, here collected as DC Presents: Young Justice #1 (October 27).

Tomorrow, I'll take a look at the Wildstorm and Vertigo titles and then make may way through the rest of the catalogue.

Sometimes it's hard to understand how DC operates

DC just announced that J.T. Krul, the man responsible for what is almost unanimously being called the worst comic book ever, is going to be the new writer on Teen Titans, a book that has been receiving nothing but terrible reviews lately.

I don't get it. Justice League, Cry for Justice, Green Arrow, Rise of Arsenal, Teen Titans and Titans all seem to be locked in this perpetual state of inter-related mediocrity. While fans and critics alike continue to complain about how awful the storylines in these books have been in recent months, DC keeps pushing them in the same direction, apparently convinced that they are onto something great and all this "controversy" and "fans getting upset" means they are doing something right.

The idea that making fans angry for publishing crappy books featuring characters they love is actually a good marketing strategy is baffling to me, but that was pretty much Dan DiDio's statement following the negative reactions to Cry for Justice.

The only positive thing I can say about all this is that DC (and other publishers) have enough good books out there that it's pretty easy for me to ignore all this crap and spend my money on things that I actually want to read. Still, I can't help but follow the reactions online, and I have to say it blows my mind a little.